Icons.com is an online retailer of authentic signed sports memorabilia based in Kentish Town, London. The website was launched in 1999 initially as the leading portal for the personal websites of the world’s top footballers. Since late 2008, it has sold merchandise and memorabilia signed by the likes of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar,

Gareth Bale Gareth Frank Bale (born 16 July 1989) is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as a winger for Major League Soccer club Los Angeles FC and the Wales national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wingers of his generation ...

, Luis Suárez,

Sergio Agüero Sergio Leonel Agüero del Castillo (born 2 June 1988), also known as Kun Agüero, is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is considered one of the best strikers of his generation and one of the greatest playe ...

Steven Gerrard Steven George Gerrard (born 30 May 1980) is an English professional football manager and former player, who most recently managed club Aston Villa. Described by pundits and fellow professionals as one of his generation's greatest players, Ge ...

, Wayne Rooney, Paolo Maldini,

Ronaldo Ronaldo is a Portuguese given name equivalent to the English Ronald. It became a common name in all Portuguese-speaking countries, being also prevalent in Italy and Spanish-speaking countries. People Notable people known as Ronaldo include: As ...

, Diego Maradona,

Pelé Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; born 23 October 1940), known as Pelé (), is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and labelled "the greatest" by FIFA, ...

and Eric Cantona. In 2010, Icons Shop Limited was awarded the world's first football memorabilia licence by

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

. It allowed the website to produce a range of official

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

products. Since then, Icons.com has sold official memorabilia for the

2014 World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting righ ...

, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Euro 2016, The Football Association and Lionel Messi. In June 2015, Icons Shop Limited sold a majority stake in the company to Marka PJSC and used the investment to purchase the assets of rival business A1 Sporting Memorabilia, thus becoming the world's largest football memorabilia company.

History

Founded by James Freedman, Icons.com was initially a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

website that provided regular diary updates from many of the world's top footballers and also guest interviews from some of the biggest names in the football world. It was the leading

portal Portal often refers to: * Portal (architecture), an opening in a wall of a building, gate or fortification, or the extremities (ends) of a tunnel Portal may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Gaming * ''Portal'' (series), two video games ...

for footballer websites in the world, housing official personal websites of around 70 players. Football fans had access to diaries about the inside workings of a

football club A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an all- ...

and their lives as professional footballers, as well as other sections focusing on their biographies and lives off the pitch. In the past, several high-profile players had used Icons.com to announce major breaking-news stories. For example,

Marc Overmars Marc Overmars (; born 29 March 1973) is a Dutch former professional footballer and director of football at Belgian Pro League side Royal Antwerp FC. He was previously director of football at Ajax. During his football career, he played as a wing ...

became the first player in history to announce a big-money transfer via his personal website in 2000 when he left

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

for Barcelona in a £25 million move. In late 2008, Icons.com became exclusively focused on selling signed memorabilia from the world's best footballers. Icons.com regularly meets past and present players such as

, Diego Maradona, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo,

Ryan Giggs Ryan Joseph Giggs (né Wilson; 29 November 1973) is a Welsh association football, football coach and former player. Regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation, Giggs played his List of one-club men in association football, entir ...

Kaká Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite (; born 22 April 1982), commonly known as Kaká () or Ricardo Kaká, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. In his prime as a playmaker at AC Milan, a period marke ...

, Cesc Fàbregas, Eric Cantona and Fernando Torres for signing sessions and sells its signed shirts, boots and photos direct to the public through the site and exclusively in-store at

Harrods Harrods Limited is a department store located on Brompton Road in Knightsbridge, London, England. It is currently owned by the state of Qatar via its sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority. The Harrods brand also applies to other ...

. Icons.com also supplies the prizes for the weekly Sky Sports programme, ''Revista de la liga''.

Official Licences

Icons.com sells official signed memorabilia under licence for the following organisations,

tournaments A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

and footballers: * FIFA World Cup * UEFA Champions League * UEFA Europa League * UEFA Euro 2016 * Official England Licensed Memorabilia * Official

Messi Lionel Andrés Messi (; born 24 June 1987), also known as Leo Messi, is an Argentine Professionalism in association football, professional footballer who plays as a forward (association football), forward for club Paris Saint-Germain F.C ...

Signed Merchandise

References

{{reflist

External links

Icons.com home page.
Association football websites